Wednesday, October 7, 2009

mnml ssgs mx39: donato dozzy

while there won't be any live recordings from labyrinth, what we will have is a series of mixes from artists who performed there. these mixes will build on the energy and inspiration of those intense couple of days and try to share some of the magic with all our techno brothers and sisters who were not able to be there with us. fittingly the first of these mixes comes from donato dozzy.

donato's closing set at last year's labyrinth was a defining moment for himself as an artist, labyrinth, and later for mnml ssgs when we shared it with the world. that moment cannot be recreated so we are not trying to. instead, this year we are presenting a different side of dozz, and a different side of labyrinth. the night before his 7 hour monster closing, donato treated those still standing after function to a stunning 3 hour ambient journey. and this is what he has recreated for us...

so this year we get to hear another part of dozz: it may not be headfuck techno, but it still warps your brain. these perfectly arranged other worldly sounds transport you somewhere else for a couple of hours. the whole mix has a beautiful sense of calm and tranquillity to it. often with ambient music the imagery used is outer space, but for me this mix feels like deep sea diving: you float around all these sounds swimming by as you dive deeper and deeper. my advice would be download both parts of the mix, find a couple of spare hours and some good speakers or headphones, then let dozz take you some place special...

i'd like to thank donato for taking the time to put together this lovely mix, and more generally, for his friendship and support. donato has played an important role in the way mnml ssgs has developed, and we are deeply grateful for all that he has done. i really feel this gentle and delicate mix strongly reflects donato's personality: someone who dreams, cares and believes. beautiful music from a beautiful heart. enjoy.

haven't listened yet but love your words so much, i nod, nod and nod with feeling something warm rising up to my heart... the ambient set he played in the labyrinth was the one of the most beautiful moments in my life, i couldnt even move, just feeling its beauty... i really grateful for your work, thank you chris and dozzy!!

@ last anonymous. Gee. thanks for the insightful, valuable comment. Y'know for some people fantastic music can be and often is, an emotional experience, so such words of justified and valid and we value those who create it and bring it to our attention. Oh, what, you don't feel that with Britney ?

I think the main message that Dozzy is trying to bring is that music is universal language & so deeply natural think like air. That's why he loves to play open-air places. As for his dj-ing I tried to say something, but my mouth shut tight & it means that music is cure.

Ha ha! Not sure it's always fair to use Britney as shorthand for bollocks music. She'll always have Hit Me Baby, Slave For You, and uh... summat else, which is more than can be said for any number of more credible 'artistes', if that's quite the word.

I'm kind of taking the piss here and I'm kind of not, concerned as I always am with the pop equilibrium... ;-)

Re the mix - I found it beautiful, restive yet oddly restless stuff. Like an anxious sleeper there's a twitchy current beneath the calm. Personally, I slightly prefer BV Dub's more rhythmic ambient sets but that's just a matter of taste I guess. This is still quality.

glad people are enjoying this... and if my words were a bit too much, so be it. now that i know dozz as a person it really is difficult for me to separate his music from his character. they reflect each other.

@ mitch: no, 'rudeboy' is not in this mix. as far as i know the only time he has ever played it in a mix was live at labyrinth.

@rob:if you read this blog (including the comments section)carefully, you can find quite a few hints to the tracks that are played in Dozzy´s set. If you keep your eyes and ears open you´ll snatch a hint time and again in a lot of other sources.I am really glad that a tracklist never existed, ´cause it gave me the opportunity to dig deeper, experience for myself and even find a few surprises. And not at least it might be one important point why this mix was, and still is, my most listend to podcast in 2009.

Stunning, this is truly deep. Belfast, Ireland is a surprisingly well equipped dance city, but here it's all about intense techno, not enough breathing space! This provides a welcome paratheses, ir would be too simple to call it chillout. It infects your thought process like SAW II does, in the best of ways. There is no higher compliment.

yea point taken, excuse my nagging. i do read this blog, and i, anonymously, took part in the long trailing attempt to identify the tracks at the time. I was just listening back to it and for my own djing purposes would really like to know a few that were never identified, but no prob. And I agree - mystery is the origin and source of all life and not knowing what your hearing is part of the party experience, but its just one of those things. it was a great recording indeed. gratitude to dozzy for it and peace to all

@ rob: cool cool. also the thing to remember about dozz's record collection is that it is absolutely ridiculous. even if you were able to ID all the tracks, the chances of getting hold of some of these records would be very, very slim. plus he has quite a bit of unreleased stuff, both his own productions and his friends. this year he played some ridiculous mike parker tracks, just for lab.

Dozzy - true master indeed.If I was to have to distill down to just the one greatest discovery brought to my attention (and doubtless many others) by ssgs, it's DD hands down. Can't be enough thanks & appreciation for that little gem :) In fact all the Italians rock; What is that ?!

guys you are forgetting that we focus on a small minority of italian djs and producers. if anything, italy seems like one of the homes of shitty, banal minimal. i dont think the italians we push are representative.

I simply cannot comment on this mix. No words would be sufficient to describe the sheer power and beauty of this. I don't even care what the tracks are.

(On a side note, I happened to be playing the very first track in the first mix and then accidentally started playing 'Serpentin' by Villalobos alongside it. Surprisingly, they went well together. (It still sounds better on its own, but sometimes accidents turn out positive!)

while i loved the 2008 labyrinth mix by dozzy, and some of his tracks, i just dont know how to appreciate this because i think i could make an ambient mix that is just as good. what makes this so special?

@AnonymousNo offense, but I don't believe you could. The number of people who were just standing there this night with tears in their eyes says it all. When Donato plays, you can feel so much passion and love and care it could be overwhelming or even painful sometimes. Not many people can do that and to me, this is why he's so special.

@ Marzie - yep - Prologue are terrific; They put out some really great music. You might want to check the new Delta Funktionen mix on Delsin's site. Fantastic track listing though yet to hear the mix in full.